6of30GALLERY: The 25 most high-tech cities in the world, according to Business Insider25. Washington, DCThe US capital has been rapidly expanding its tech scene over the last decade, growing its overall number of tech-related jobs by 50%.
In addition, more than 1,000 startups call DC home. The proximity to the federal government mixed with the deep pockets of nearby venture-capital firms makes starting a world-changing company an appealing prospect in the city.Photo: Drew Angerer, Getty Images

7of3024. Barcelona, SpainThe Spanish city cracked the top 25 for the first time since last year's ranking, in particular for its growing population of industrial designers and prominent smartphone use.
Smartphone infrastructure is so sophisticated, in fact, that electrical boxes strewn around Barcelona contain computers that capture noise levels, traffic patterns, and how many selfies people take. Photo: David Ramos, Getty Images

8of3023. Copenhagen, DenmarkWhat Copenhagen lacks in startup culture and venture capital, it makes up for with innovative urban planning and a strong contingent of industrial designers — factors that 2thinknow praises as signs the city prioritizes smart manufacturing.
By 2025, the city plans to sever its dependence on fossil fuel, due in large part to harnessed wind energy. Its robust bike culture and fleet of architecture firms allow Copenhagen to be a city that's not just green, but beautiful.Photo: Kateryna Negoda, Getty Images

9of3022. Hong Kong, China Rather than excel in one particular category, Hong Kong hits just about every box in terms of its advancement. The city devotes enormous amount of money toward research and development and city-wide innovation, boasting some of the fastest Internet speeds in China. Its high-tech exports total $243 billion, or 51% of the total exported goods.Photo: ANTHONY WALLACE/AFP/Getty Images

10of3021. Berlin, GermanyNot to be outdone, Germany's capital city boasts a strong start-up culture and has some of the highest rates of venture capital investment in Europe.
Berlin is also the locus for much of Europe's automobile industry. It is the only city in the world where all of the major automative brands are represented.Photo: Michael Sohn, AP

11of3020. Shenzhen, ChinaPatents are flying out of Shenzhen, a city in southern China that boasts a population of 11 million. As part of the country's push toward manufacturing, Shenzhen has grown significantly over the last several years as a hub for factories and robotics. Multiple telecom and electronics giants have found a home base in the city.Photo: Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

12of3019. Bangalore, IndiaNo other city in 2thinknow's ranking climbed as far compared to 2016's ranking as Bangalore, which moved from 49th place to 19th.
The change is due to an influx of IT companies and the city's enormous population of programmers. Half of India is under 25, and many are entering the growing tech space, creating a virtuous circle of growth.Photo: Aijaz Rahi, Associated Press

13of3018. Montreal, CanadaIf you want to be an industrial designer or programmer, you should consider moving to Montreal. If you want to work in wearable technology (or virtual reality), even better.
Montreal is home to Vrvana, a VR headset manufacturer, and the companies Hexoskin and OMSignal, which both make clothes that measure wearers' biometric signals. The city also has a fairly strong startup culture.Photo: Getty

14of3017. Shanghai, ChinaThe closest Shanghai has to Silicon Valley is the Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park. It houses more than 100,000 workers split between thousands of tech companies. Like most of China's high-tech cities, Shanghai excels in patents and venture capital. That may be because manufacturing has become a top priority in China, and companies are eager to protect (and invest in) their intellectual property.Photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images

15of3016. Beijing, ChinaThough it may lack the startup culture of other high-tech cities, Beijing is renowned for its city-wide use of smartphones and the number of patents filed per capita. It venture capital scene has also grown rapidly over the past several years.
The city climbed 15 spots since the 2016 rankings.Photo: Andy Wong, Associated Press

16of3015. Amsterdam, the NetherlandsAmsterdam's combination of financial technology, energy efficiency, and startup culture make it a powerhouse in Europe, despite being much smaller than its neighbors. (It has only a third of Berlin's population, for example.) In April, lawmakers announced they wanted to ban gas and diesel cars by 2025 in favor of electric vehicles — perhaps the city's most visible sign of its look toward the future.

17of3014. Vancouver, CanadaIn 2014, the CBC called Vancouver "Silicon Valley North" in recognition of its strong start-up culture.
There are more than 600 digital media companies that generate more than $2 billion in revenue. Tech-focused universities and low corporate tax rates, meanwhile, make the city attractive for both up-and-coming engineers as well as established executives.Photo: Photography by Harry Traeger/Getty Images

18of3013. Stockholm, SwedenWith missions to go cash-free and oil-free within the next five years, Stockholm is fully embracing the digital and environmental revolutions. The city also has the most billion-dollar startups in Europe and the world's second-fastest-growing market for venture capital investments. It's no wonder that programmers are flocking to the Swedish capital.Photo: Michel Setboun/Getty Images

19of3012. Tokyo, JapanThe largest city in the world doesn't achieve that feat without impressive levels of infrastructure — transportation in particular. Tokyo's subway system, for example, is used by 2.3 billion people every year. Tokyo excels in venture capital investments, and is home to a dizzying number of tech giants, many of which are already preparing for the 2020 Olympic Games.Photo: KAZUHIRO NOGI, AFP/Getty Images

20of3011. Dallas-Fort Worth, TexasJust within the last couple years, Dallas has established itself as a startup hub.
In 2thinknow's analysis, the Texas city climbed from 28th in 2016 to just outside the top 10 because of its rapid growth in the number of venture capitalists and integration of technology into the city landscape.Photo: Jeremy Woodhouse, Getty Images

21of3010. Chicago, IllinoisYou might not think of the Midwest as a startup magnet, but Chicago is quickly proving that assumption false. A recent report found Illinois was among the top five in high-tech jobs in the US, with the Windy City making up a big chunk of those spots.
Brookings Institute also finds Chicago is a hotbed for urban planning innovation, driven largely by CityWorks, a project designed to solve problems related to energy transfer and transportation.Photo: DANIEL BORRIS, NYT

22of309. Toronto, CanadaRife with startups and innovative infrastructure, stemming from places like the Cisco Innovation Center, Toronto is home to 30% of Canada's IT firms, the majority of which have fewer than 50 employees. That means there's a crop of young companies poised to make an impact in the next decade.
Overall, the city's firms account for approximately $52 billion in yearly revenue.Photo: NurPhoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images

23of308. SingaporeAside from being a giant, rain-absorbing sponge, Singapore boasts an extremely high number of programmers and venture capitalists. The city-state is constantly introducing new infrastructure and high-tech high-rises, including one with an entire forest in the atrium.
It has partnered with MIT to build smarter transportation that relies less on private cars and more on public trains and light rail.Photo: Wong Maye-E, Associated Press

24of307. Boston, MassachusettsA huge number of exciting technologies have been coming out of Boston over the last several years from STEM elites like MIT, Harvard, Tufts, and Northeastern — many of them in the biotech and robotic fields. The city has a handful of venture capital firms (Battery Ventures, Atlas Venture, Bessemer Venture Partners, Matrix Venture Partners) that pour money into innovation labs and university startups. And big-name companies like Facebook and Amazon have set up R&D offices in Boston to pull from this growing pool of talent.Photo: Charles Krupa, Associated Press

25of306. Seoul, South KoreaSeoul has been called the city of the future, and rightfully so. Innovation is practically baked into its design, as its metro system may even have New York's subway beat.
According to 2thinknow, Seoul files more patents than just about any city in the world. It has developed technology that is already ubiquitous — such as the LTE beamed to our smartphones — as well as tech still in its infancy, like virtual stores where you scan pictures of items to be delivered later.Photo: Chung Sung-Jun, Getty Images

26of305. Taipei, TaiwanAccording to 2thinknow's analysis, Taipei is the far-and-away leader when it comes to industrial design. This has been the case for years — the city much prefers to delve into hardware rather than software. Some of the largest PC companies call the city home, including Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, and Acer. According to 2thinknow, the city also scores highly in its number of venture capitalists.Photo: Alexander Koerner/Getty Images

27of304. Los AngelesFilm isn't the only industry in LA.
In 2014, a report by the LA County Economic Development Corporation suggested that LA had more high-tech sector jobs than any other region in the US. The report also found the total wealth output hovers around $58 billion. When 2thinknow performed its analysis, it found the same: Startups and venture capital play a major role in LA's tech sector boom.Photo: Naphat Photography/Getty Images

28of303. London, EnglandLondon has become a public transportation dream over the last year with the introduction of its Crossrail project. By 2018, 10 new train lines will connect 30 existing stations with brand-new tunnels. At $20 billion, it's the largest construction project in Europe.
2thinknow finds London has more startups and programmers than almost any other city in the world. By some estimates, there may be more IT jobs in London than all of California.
Some estimates say there will be 11,000 new tech jobs added within the next decade.
Photo: Justin Tallis, AFP/Getty Images

29of302. New York, New YorkNew York is a special kind of tech heavyweight. It is both extremely dated in its infrastructure, but at the same time, unbelievably progressive.
According to the state comptroller's office, nearly 7,000 high-tech companies in New York City provided more than 100,000 jobs during the third quarter of 2013. In addition to starting companies, the city also launches integrated, citywide technology: LinkNYC, a free Wifi service, has over 500 kiosks around Manhattan available for public use, and many experts believe the city is just getting started.Photo: Mario Tama, Getty Images

30of301. San FranciscoIf every city claims to be the "Silicon Valley" of its particular home country, you can guarantee Silicon Valley is the gold standard for tech.
Since 2thinknow defines the region by its largest neighboring city, San Francisco takes the top spot. It is the undeniable epicenter of all things tech, from its gigantic startup culture to its venture capital scene to its population of designers and programmers.
Silicon Valley wins in just about every category because the supply chain of innovation has made its home there, even as smaller contenders claw at the title.Photo: Noah Berger, Special to The Chronicle

Google’s search results have led to even more San Francisco real estate.

The tech giant leased 190,000 square feet — room for more than 1,200 employees based on typical occupancy standards — at One Maritime Plaza in the north Financial District, the company confirmed this week. Google signed the deal in December, its third San Francisco office expansion of 2018, and employees will start moving into the tower in 2020. Google did not specify how many employees will work there.

The three deals boost Google’s San Francisco offices to 1.5 million square feet, making it the third-largest tech tenant behind only Salesforce and Uber, according to real estate brokerage firm Cushman & Wakefield. Google has even more space in Silicon Valley - more than 19 million square feet, with major long-term expansion plans near its Mountain View headquarters and in San Jose.

Google and other tech giants like Facebook and Amazon have shown seemingly bottomless appetites for new offices, both in the Bay Area and around the country.

“Big tech continues to expand and will be the primary economic driver here and in every other major market — San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York City and on and on,” said Robert Sammons, a research director at Cushman & Wakefield.

“The shaky public markets and the trade war have yet to stop those with deep pockets. Big tech seems to essentially be in it for the long haul and needs to follow the talent,” Sammons said.

In a sign of the times, Google will occupy around a third of the 25-story One Maritime Plaza, located at 300 Clay St., as non-tech tenants are leaving.

Del Monte Foods said in 2015 it was leaving San Francisco, where it was founded in 1886, for Walnut Creek - joining a corporate exodus from the city of companies like McKesson and Bechtel. The decision came six years after Del Monte Foods leased space at One Maritime Plaza for a new headquarters.

The J.M. Smucker Co. said last year it was closing its One Maritime Plaza office, laying off 100 employees and consolidating workers in its Ohio headquarters. Private equity firm Hellman & Friedman is also leaving the high-rise after leasing a new office at Salesforce Tower.

Other tenants at One Maritime Plaza include billionaire Tom Steyer’s Farallon Capital Management, Osterweis Capital Management LLC, and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill — the large architecture firm that also designed the dark glass and aluminum tower in 1967.

Roland Li covers commercial real estate for the business desk, focusing on the Bay Area office and retail sectors.

He was previously a reporter at San Francisco Business Times, where he won one award from the California News Publishers Association and three from the National Association of Real Estate Editors.

He is the author of “Good Luck Have Fun: The Rise of eSports," a 2016 book on the history of the competitive video game industry. Before moving to the Bay Area in 2015, he studied and worked in New York. He freelanced for the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and other local publications. His hobbies include swimming and urban photography.